Defence Ministerial nominee, General Christopher Musa (rtd), on Wednesday highlighted the positive impact of collaborative governance on regional security, citing the South-West as a model.
Speaking during his Senate confirmation hearing, Gen. Musa noted that the region has achieved “relatively better security outcomes because governors in the region agreed to work collectively.”
He emphasised that the same level of cooperation is urgently required nationwide to effectively combat banditry and cross-border threats.
According to Musa, “Nigeria cannot win the fight against insecurity without strong inter-state and regional collaborations.”
“Why the Southwest seems to be doing very well is because they all agreed together,” he told lawmakers.
“That’s why regionally, government must come together because two is better than one.”
He explained that bandits exploit Nigeria’s porous borders, especially in the North-West, where they escape into neighbouring Niger Republic after carrying out attacks in Sokoto State and surrounding areas.
“Bandits do not respect borders. In fact, where they have strength is that when you pursue them around Sokoto area, they enter Niger, and once they enter Niger you can’t touch them until they come back,” Musa said.
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The former Chief of Defence Staff urged the Federal Government to strengthen the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) and increase its operational capacity along the Niger–Mali–Burkina Faso corridor, which he described as the main entry route for extremist and criminal groups pushing toward Nigeria’s North-Central and Southwest.
“For the Multinational Joint Task Force in Niger–Mena, we need to increase their capacity to be able to hold them down towards the border to Mali and Burkina Faso,” he stated.
“That’s where we are having those incursions into Kwara down to the Southwest. We have to stop them from doing more than that.”
Musa stressed that Nigeria’s security agencies must operate in harmony if the country is to curb the spread of banditry.
“We have to harmonise all of them. All the security agencies need to come together,” he said.
